


Wooden city

by two2ducks



Series: 30 day writing challenge [10]
Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, M/M, Non-Idol AU, Platonic Relationships, Slice of Life, maybe? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:02:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23518135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/two2ducks/pseuds/two2ducks
Summary: Day 10: Is that my shirt?When an old car appeared by the single garage, Sicheng expected nothing, but trouble again. The car stayed there for a few days, no other signs of life came from the other side. He called the house owner to make sure someone has moved in, not just left a stolen car here. They confirmed that, yes, there is someone moving in, but nothing more. Apparently, they didn’t have any more information and with that, the call was done. So it was, until one late morning.Part 1/2
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Nakamoto Yuta
Series: 30 day writing challenge [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1675693
Kudos: 9





	Wooden city

When Sicheng moved out of his parents house and into his first ever house, he knew that the city wasn’t anything good. It is small, the houses are old, most of the people work in the only factory here, the stores don’t have many choice options, if habitants don’t walk, then they drive an old car or take an even more outdated bus. The city looks quite depressing and he knows it, but the rent is pretty low and he gets a half of a whole house to himself. It’s a wooden, grey joined house, with a terrace that connects the both sides. Terrace sounds nice, but you have to be careful where to put your leg, since bunch of planks have mold all over them and some have already broke. Sicheng could see the bittersweet smile on his parents faces when they arrived to help with moving the furniture around, but nevertheless, they were proud of him. Just like he was himself.

The work paid him well, but it still made the studies harder than they were already. But now, that he had plenty of room to himself, whenever the stress was too much, he could decorate and re-decorate all the rooms. That turned out to be more fun than he thought. The minimalistic mall became his second home. There was only one store with things made for house decorating, but the grocery store also had some small, fun objects to add. Plus, the prices were low, however, each time Sicheng still managed to leave too big of a sum there. At least he got familiar with the shop assistants.

Only after a few days the other side of the house was rented to a family. At first, Sicheng was happy to finally have some faces around all the time. But soon it turned out that the family wasn’t like his. Two parents with three young children. Sicheng knew that children are loud and a lot to take care of, but it didn’t take much screaming to realise why they were so loud. For the first week, Sicheng tried everything to avoid any of the children, the adults didn’t seem to come out much, if they even were at home, he didn’t know. That was the reason Sicheng started to take the last bus to home, although the city at dark was even more intimidating, he rather walked through the empty streets, than face a child who he can’t help to.  
Then the next week came around and as he was coming back from doing grocery shopping and picking up a box from mail, one of the children ran out of their entrance door. Sicheng pretended not to see her at first, but then she had the bravery to stand right in front of him, blocking the only pawed path and asked him if he’s their neighbour. The man tried to sound as nice and polite while they talked about the flowers by the terrace and the cats that wander around their street. She was nice, knowing so little about the real life that still awaits her. Sicheng couldn’t help, but feel the pity for her and her brothers as she told them that they would like to play with him on the terrace someday. He nodded his head and an appointment on the weekend was made. The rooms on the other side grew louder and louder, but he didn’t dare to go and have a word with their parents. When Sunday rolled around, they did meet on the broken terrace. He brought a bowl of chocolate candy with him and a mini-sized football ball. Sicheng has never seen children eat sweets _that_ hurriedly, he tried to not to stare too much at the red spots on their skin.  
After a few months they were gone, Sicheng had gone to their parents house during the holiday and when he came back, everything was silent again. One of the mailman told him that one night the police had arrived and since then there hasn’t been any new movements around the house. Sicheng hopes the siblings are alright.

The next neighbour of his was a homeless man. Sicheng doesn’t know when he started to life under this roof, but he’s sure – it had been at least a few days before Sicheng noticed. Yet again, he didn’t dare to step inside through the other door, rather called the police while he himself had just left to the university. When he walked out that morning, there were more than one men in the other living room, he could see them through the window. They didn’t seem to be bothered to live in someones house. Sicheng notified the owner too, but they didn’t do anything, they even sounded like offering the other side to the homeless man. When Sicheng came back from work late that evening, there was a sheet of paper left in his mailbox – it was from the police, he had to go to the police office that week.

After that incident, a middle-aged woman moved in. She liked to smoke and drink cheap wine on the terrace, sitting in a white, plastic chair she brought with her. Although, they didn’t have much in common, Sicheng did spend some interesting afternoons talking with her. She was the first neighbour, who he actually got to know before she left. The woman was looking for a cheap place to live, just like him, except for her it was that she couldn’t afford living anywhere else. She had gone through an expensive divorce, trying to win the custody over her child. She didn’t, because her husband had been the one always providing money to live off, meanwhile she was the perfect housewife many men want, but then, apparently, the husband had met a different, younger woman and that was the end of that. Everything she had in her life was gone. If Sicheng had ever seen a mid-life crisis in a physical form – it was her. But she was nice nonetheless, she had many stories to share, making him feel empathy, but with a slight hint of humour making it brighter. One evening, she told Sicheng that she can’t even afford to live in this house. After a month, when Sicheng returned from a three-day birthday party of one of his friends at his hometown, she was gone, too. This time there was a sad goodbye-letter on the table on the terrace, at the end she mentioned that she has the address written down and if she’ll find a way, she’ll write him a letter. In the last line she described how good of a person Sicheng is and how many people have judge her, but not him. Sicheng did miss her a little bit.

When an old car appeared by the single garage, Sicheng expected nothing, but trouble again. The car stayed there for a few days, no other signs of life came from the other side. He called the house owner to make sure someone has moved in, not just left a stolen car here. They confirmed that, yes, there is someone moving in, but nothing more. Apparently, they didn’t have any more information and with that, the call was done. So it was, until one late morning, Sicheng was filling the small bowls he leaves outside for the stray cats, when he was scared with a classic _boo!_ From the squatting position he fell down on his butt, face in a silent scream. When he turned away from the small garden to the terrace, there was young man, courageously resting against the skew, wooden rails. The stranger was grinning at him, soon after introducing himself as the new neighbour Sicheng will have to bear with, name’s Yuta, will try not to be too loud, hopes Sicheng isn’t either. When Sicheng finally got up he did the same by telling a little about himself, at the end asking if the newcomer needs any help with moving in, the offer was politely denied. They didn’t quite meet for the rest of the weekdays, but Sicheng had high hopes for the new neighbour.

They met again on the weekend, Sicheng trying to get the mess in garden somewhat in order and Yuta offering him help, which he gladly accepted, since it is _their_ garden now. As they took care of the overgrown plants and the trashed garden shed, Sicheng got to know that Yuta works too, doesn’t study, even though he’s not much older than Sicheng himself. They also share views on things, some of the songs on their playlists match and they both are equally upset by the lack of fast food restaurants here. By the time they were done for the day, Sicheng had promised to introduce his new friend to his favourite shop assistant and the lady in the library. They still had plenty of topics to discuss, so Yuta asked if Sicheng would like to have a frozen pizza or two as a dinner, the younger agreed, saying that the drinks are on him. By the arranged time, the sun had started to settle down, but thanks to the summer they’re having this year, the air was warm even after midnight. Turns out having a normal neighbour is far more fun than Sicheng thought.

For a while, their working schedules didn’t match, still, they managed to go grocery shopping together for a few times. Yuta always kindly inviting the other, since he has a car, so Sicheng doesn’t have to carry the heavy bags. Yuta had also started to feed the cats, even giving two of them names, Sicheng didn’t dare to do that, because then he would get attached to the creatures that could just not come here anymore one day. But soon, he also was calling the black one Berry and the ginger one Freckle, when Yuta noticed it, it became a teasing matter, not that he minded. On some late evenings, they would sit outside on the terrace and have a beer or something stronger, on one of them Sicheng asked if the other would be down to re-paint the planks they call a fence. Yuta said yes, after whining about how much of a work it is going to be and how everything is going to smell like paint for days.

The next weekend, early morning they were choosing the right colour with a help from the shop owner, whom Sicheng introduced to Yuta. The old man gave them praise after praise, how good it is that finally young men are coming and making the city the way it used to be.  
Summer, obviously, is the best season in Sichengs opinion, but the heat can get too much. The hot weather and the smell of chemicals didn’t make neither of them happy. The music they put on before getting to work was a bit uplifting, but it was nothing compared to a swim in a cold water Sicheng was imagining. There are no pools around, that’s for sure, he hasn’t found out about any lakes near them, he should do that soon. Yuta is some metres away from him, not really enjoying this either. Seems like they want to finish this as fast as possible, rather than chatting around and enjoying the sunny day. At one point, the old lady from the house next to them came to wish them good luck painting the last planks with a refreshing lemon water. Sicheng noticed how polite and cheerful Yuta was while talking to her, he hasn’t quite had a long talk with the lady, just a few chats. Maybe he should do so soon.

Then, Sichengs work schedule changed and they had some time during the week to spend together. It’s not like they were with each other all the time, no. Sicheng still liked to lay in his bed and do nothing. He still had to clean up the house, cook fulfilling meals, watching TV shows also took his free time.  
But when they did spend time together, Yuta was trying to learn Sicheng some football tricks, they talked about random things on the internet or whatever was on their minds, one day they decided to clean the grill that was collecting dust in the shed for months, hell, probably years, after that they had tasty grilled meals now and then. One day Yuta offered to play a board game on the terrace, that also started coming along. Sometimes, they waited just to see from which corner will any of the cats appear, mostly it being from one of the gaps in the fence.

One day, when Yuta had gone to work, Sicheng went to the market. He had started to go there for fresh and juicy vegetables, incomparable to the ones in the store. There were bunch of different flowers in small pots, smelling more than sweetly. Sicheng asked around which of those could be planted in a flowerbed now, for such a gloomy city, the people here were so warm and communicative. He returned home with a bag of food and a wide box full of differently-coloured plants, excited to add something new in the garden.  
Instead of lunch, Sicheng had some ice cream while looking through the things in shed what could help him with the work. Thankfully, he found a small shovel, no watering can though, a bottle of water will have to do the job.  
The ground was quite dry, but he managed to plant most of them, the most tiring part being having to constantly go after water, he should buy a watering can. The colours of flowers were mixing nicely, like Sicheng would have a clue what he was doing. It would be a win for the plants to survive more than a week.  
Soon, he heard Yuta arrive home. Sicheng waited if the other will come and join him outside and he did. Sicheng welcomed him, Yuta was curious what the younger was doing, picking the pots that had left one by one, inspecting the colourful petals. Sicheng was waiting for some questions or a story how his day went, but instead once he was done with looking at the plants, Yuta went inside without a word. First idea that came to Sicheng was that the other didn’t like the flowers he had bought and if the thinks about it, he should’ve asked if Yuta wanted these too before doing anything. That’s why, when Sicheng finished watering the one he just covered with ground, he called it a day and went inside with the four pots.

“Why didn’t you plant this one?” Yuta motioned to the plant on the table with his glass. It’s another evening they spent on the terrace. Another plank had broken, Sicheng was on his morning duty to feed the cats when that happened.

He shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know, got too tired.” Sicheng had been watering the ones in the flowerbed more than one of the women in the market suggested, the sun dries the ground up to quickly, in his opinion. The unplanted ones found places around Sichengs rooms and one made it on the table on terrace.

“Aren’t they meant to be planted?” The elder gave him a suspicious look, maybe he was genuinely interested, Sicheng couldn’t tell.

“Do _you_ want to plant it?” For a second they had what felt like a staring contest, but then Yuta broke it.

“I mean, if you show me how.”  
That’s how they ended up kneeling on the ground by their mailboxes as the time neared midnight. It made Sicheng laugh, how Yuta treated each plant with so much care and sweet words, and still managed to pull off their leaves. When Sicheng came out of his door with a bottle of water, Yuta was still patting the ground around the flowers. It was a strange view, yet so fascinating, Sicheng slowed down just to look at it for longer and not bother the other. A man sitting on the ground by an old mailbox, making sure bright flowers are nicely settled into ground, while behind him is a whole dusty street of gray houses and cars that are barely holding together. The sun was setting behind their house, making the shadow almost reach Yutas body, but not there yet, he was still in the sun.  
When Sicheng handed him the lukewarm water, Yuta looked up at Sicheng, and it reminded him of the three siblings that used to live here. A shiver ran through his body.

They did find a lake nearby, Yuta didn’t mind driving to it with his neighbour almost every day. After one of the unexpected rides, when Yuta decided it would be cool to go for a swim right after their work ended, not even making it home at first, they had to sit with wet clothes in the car. With the same clothing they went into the store and bought a pair of cocktails and snacks to have for dinner.  
They arrived at home and went to change, each at his own home. Sicheng went out first, sitting in his usual wooden chair with a pillow on it, when Yuta finally came out, wearing something far too similar, “Is that my shirt?”

Yuta looked himself up and down, his body was prettily tanned from the bright sun, “Oh, that’s why it’s so tight!” Both of his hands were taken by the bottle and packs of unhealthy food, as he came closer Sicheng could tell that he had used perfume, “I must have taken it, when we did the laundry at the same time.”

“Maybe we should set up another rope for clothes.” Yuta pulled his chair away in order to take a seat, loud wood cracking came from right beneath him. They shared a look as Yuta moved the chair closer to Sicheng. “I’ve had the idea of repairing the terrace, but I don’t know if I can do it.”

The elder dropped everything in his hands on the table, “Well, it’s my terrace, too.” Sicheng handed Yuta his bottle, already used to the other opening these for him, Yuta easily opened it, his arms flexing in the effort, “We can try it. My dad was a carpenter, so I know the basics.”

Sicheng took back his bottle, “It would take some time, though.” The other hummed instead of properly answering, “I think I’ll use my vacation days. If I try hard enough, I could get two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” Yuta sighed as he rested in the chair, taking the first sip from the bottle, “That’s a lot of time.” Sicheng wasn’t looking at him, rather focusing on the garden in front of them, but he could tell that he had a pair of eyes on him now. The idea of looking back at Yuta made him too nervous to do so.

“Yeah, I think I’ll spend one week with parents and then the other at home.” He could see how Yuta rested his head at the side of his chair, “We can start repairing it then?” The question came out unsure, Sicheng got a little embarrassed about that, it was a simple sentence, how did he mess that up?

There was a brief silence before Yuta finally answered, “I think, that… we should start now, so…” The tone of his voice was uplifting right by Sichengs side, “…we can still enjoy it before the summer ends.” °

Sicheng didn’t expect Yuta to drag him to buy the building materials on the next day. They made a plan on a sheet of paper Yuta found in his kitchen, the drawing wasn’t anything breath-taking and it was pretty much the same – the floor of the terrace was a bit higher, the rails wider and they decided to look for a new set of a table and chairs, not to add the different, fresh colours they had yet to choose.

The next day Sicheng woke up from the sound of something being destroyed, it took one look from his window to notice Yuta working at getting rid of the old planks. He tried to get over with his weekend morning routine as quickly as possible in order to join the other outside. Yuta greeted him with a sorry for waking him up, Sicheng only smiled and whined about missing the ripping of the first plank. The other laughed at his antics as he got to work. It took a few days to get rid of the old floor. Beneath it, the ground was wet, as they waited for it to dry, Yuta taught Sicheng how to connect planks in theory, he promised to show it how it works too, meanwhile they spent their free time cutting the boards to the length they needed them to be.

Yuta did most of the work, as Sicheng wasn’t that skilled. He was a little bit curious about Yutas parents, but maybe he didn’t tell about them for a reason, so Sicheng kept his mouth shut. The cats hadn’t gotten used to the change of their tray placement, instead of having a fast meal and leaving, they now stayed for longer, waiting for pats and games. Yuta definitely was Berrys favourite, Sicheng asked him how would it be if they actually kept the cats instead of letting them wander around, the elder joked that he can barely take care of himself, he couldn’t take care of another human being. Even though Sicheng knew that was a lie, he didn’t dwell on it.

A few days before Sichengs vacation started, instead of sitting in the old chairs, they were trying out the new table set in the grass. It was a fake oak wood table, with matching chairs, the old man at the store gave them a discount. While Yuta was talking with him, Sicheng took the chance and picked up four garden torches that work on batteries. They put them around the backyard before pulling out the grill. Yuta wanted to make Sicheng _the most delicious grilled meat ever_ and he did. The elder didn’t cook often and if he did – it was something simple, so it came as a surprise that he had such a hidden talent. They were tired from all the work they did earlier – the base of the floor was done. The radio was still playing behind them, so there wasn’t complete silence, Sicheng enjoyed Yutas company nonetheless. He didn’t understand, how he could live with such strange neighbours before, that he had missed out on so much great things. Yuta was playing with the straw in his glass, it was dark already, even the air was getting cooler. Most of the light came from the torches. No topics to talk about came to Sichengs mind, perhaps he was too tired, perhaps it was something else.

They worked hard for the next days. Yuta would get up early and go to sleep late, just to do more. Sicheng tried to help him as much as possible, sometimes Yuta was so deep in work, it took a few calls of his name to get his attention. Sicheng knew that he was hardworking, but that was a whole new side. The floor itself was done, Sicheng was the one in charge of finished the frame of it, while Yuta started to work on the rails. The evenings they used to spend together changed into them being tired and sitting in the grass instead, reflecting on the day and waiting to go to sleep.

The day before Sicheng had to leave to visit his parents, they went to pick the colours. Yuta let Sicheng choose it, the younger thought it was a little bit unfair towards the other. He chose two – one dark brown and the other light brown for the accents. As they were driving home, Sicheng gathered up the courage to confront Yuta, “I think you need some rest. You’re overworking yourself.” Yuta didn’t let his eyes leave the road, Sicheng started to feel uncomfortable, on his left Yuta only nodded his head.

Yuta wasn’t up early the next day, it was like it used to be months ago – Sicheng woke up first and went outside to feed the cats, everything around him was silent, like it was after the middle-aged woman left. However, the garden was completely different and there wasn’t unfinished cigarettes laying around. He waited for Yuta to come out and wish him a good morning, but throughout the process he didn’t. Sicheng got up, to go back inside, he looked into the windows that are not his, some of them had their curtains closed, so he was still sleeping, getting a good rest.  
Inside the house, Sicheng made sure that all of his things for the week were packed, as much as he was excited to see his friends and family, something inside of him didn’t want to leave. The dark city, the poor house, the empty streets, the neighbours – they had grown on him. He hadn’t left the small city for some months now. It was a little bit scary.  
He also wasn’t sure how to say goodbye to Yuta, now that he didn’t meet him outside and they didn’t have their usual chat. Sicheng did have his number, but they always had gotten around without using their phones to talk to each other. He still could wait a few hours, his parents hadn’t texted him that they’ve left the house, so there was nowhere to hurry to.

After a while his parents did text him, however, there still weren’t any signs of Yuta, so Sicheng did send him a message that he re-wrote three times. Yuta replied quickly, answering that he was awake and reminded for Sicheng to water flowers before leaving. He did forget about that, so he got to the job immediately. When he was on his third bottle of water, Yuta finally came outside with his own two bottles full of clear liquid. Without saying anything, he started to carefully lift the leaves and petals in order to pour the water on the very ground. Sicheng watched him before doing the same, it looked like his hands were trembling, but the younger dismissed the thought.

It was enough water for all the flowers, they were simply sitting in the grass and gazing in the daily sun. There was a heaviness that Sicheng couldn’t shake off, it wasn’t him, he knew it. Even if he was a little bit sad about leaving his home, it wasn’t about that.  
Sicheng ignored the knot in his throat and darer to ask, “Is everything alright?”

Yuta turned to look at him and this time Sicheng was looking back. Yuta smiled at him, “Why wouldn’t it be?” There was something in his eyes that Sicheng couldn’t put a finger on, but all of the thoughts were off of his mind, when Yuta rested against his side. It was unexpected, but it felt _normal_. Yuta still could see the terrace, “So, the top of the rails - light?”

**Author's Note:**

> remember yuwin? me neither  
> the paragraphs are a bit messy, but i kinda want it that way
> 
> idk how this came out that long and its only the first part bc its late and im too sleepy, others are like 800 words, idk, maybe its the chocolate, i dont eat sweets often lol
> 
> sleep well! stay safe! its the right time to learn how to bake!


End file.
